


Love From A Drunken Sky

by Helen8462



Series: Tumbler Prompts, Challenges and Other Inspired Vignettes [6]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Angst, Drabbles, F/M, Ficlets, Humor, Ongoing collection, Romance, Writing practice, etc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-10-31 19:25:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 4,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10905879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helen8462/pseuds/Helen8462
Summary: This is a collection of prompted Janeway/Chakotay drabbles and ficlets that I will continue to add to.  Each chapter is a different work.





	1. I Will Fix This

**Author's Note:**

> Each of these drabbles were originally posted on Tumblr under jhelenoftrek. I am always looking for more, so please find me there to request (or leave comments with a prompt).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From @warp6‘s “Someone comforts Admiral Janeway about something.”

He came up behind her silently under that most perfect, peaceful tree and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her white hair brushed against his dark flesh. Both sets of eyes fell down to the freshly tilled earth.

“I never took the time to tell you,” she said, hands clasped at her waist. “I always thought I’d tell you….”

The once dark-haired man nodded. “You told me,” he said. “In so many ways.”

 _‘I miss you,’_ she thought, bending down to the ground. _‘And I’m angry that you left me.’_

He wrapped his strong arms around her. “I am always with you. I’ll never leave. You must understand, I can’t.”

She gazed briefly up to the sky, a chill blew through the grayness but she felt warm and didn’t understand why.

Tentatively, she touched the cold stone and watched as her own tears filled the circular engraving.

“I will fix this,” she vowed. “I will find a way.”


	2. Size Doesn't Matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From @mpriestly1949 who suggested “ When someone makes a surprising comment that you never would have expected.“

“Target their forward weapon’s array,” Janeway ordered.

A barely perceptible shudder was felt throughout the ship.  Janeway rolled her eyes.  “Any response to our hails?”

“No Ma’am,” Ensign Kim replied.

“Fine.  Let’s get their attention, then maybe they’ll want to talk.  Fire, Mr. Tuvok.”

Two shimmering streams of phaser fire burst out of Voyager and struck the small craft directly ahead.

“They’re coming around for another pass,” Kim advised.

Janeway shook her head and leaned toward Commander Chakotay.  “Don’t they know they’re out-classed?  They’re no match for us.”

“Voyager has proven time and again, that size does not always matter,” Tuvok reminded.

Chakotay leaned over to the center console and typed, “That’s not what you said….” for Janeway to see. Then he quickly deleted the message.

Janeway’s face betrayed no response to his intimate quip as another small shudder was felt, but she couldn’t help bringing to mind thoughts of their passionately erotic evening which had turned into morning and then them both starting their shifts late.

_It had started with an incredible kiss…._

“It’s almost like being hit with BB guns,” Paris joked from the helm when the small ship fired again.

_Strong arms wrapped around her…._

“Shields are holding at one-hundred percent,” Tuvok confirmed.

_Clothing falling on the floor…._

“They just don’t give up, do they?” Kim commented.

_Hands all over her body, moving, grabbing, over and over…._

“We’re going to be at this all night,” Tom said sarcastically.

“Ohhhh, yes.”  Janeway moaned with a throaty growl.  “Yes, we are….”

And all eyes were on her.

She cleared her throat. “I think that’s enough, actually. Tom, lay in a course and just go around them.”


	3. On The Bottom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For two prompts: 1. From @ailtara who wanted Janeway in a bathing suit in the water enjoying herself and 2. The picture below.

 

* * *

 

“Come on in, Chakotay!  The water is so warm you won’t believe it.”

“That’s ok.  I’d rather enjoy the view from up here,” he replied, setting up his chair toward the middle of the long pier. 

Kathryn leisurely rolled onto her stomach and began to stroke back to him, then she leaned up to fold her arms over the wooden edge. 

“I didn’t finally bring you to the real Lake George so you could just sit and look at it,” she chided.  “You’ve got to feel this water, love.  Let it get into your pores and absorb you.”

Chakotay raised an eyebrow.  “Getting into nature, huh?  It sounds like I’m rubbing off on you.”

“Hop in the water and we’ll turn that sentence around,” she replied lasciviously, without missing a beat.

“I still think I’ll stay up here.” 

“Oh fine, but at least bend down so I can kiss you.”

In doing as he was told, Chakotay teetered at the edge.  He felt her warm, wet hand on his forearm.  She lifted up out of the water to meet his lips then, with a sudden yank….

SPLASH!

Headfirst into the water he went.  Flailing and sputtering, he gasped for breath, grabbing at the water for purchase. 

Kathryn laughed and paddled backwards to observe her handiwork.  After a moment, she was suddenly made aware that his struggling wasn’t just an act.

“Chakotay?” she asked hesitantly.

“I….” he coughed, still flapping his arms around like a crazed bird.  “I can’t…..swim!” 

“You can’t swim!?!”

“No!!!” 

Cough.  Sputter.  Splash.

Janeway swam back to him and repressed a smile.  Then, she put her feet on the bottom of the shallow lake.  He felt her hand on his shoulder as he continued to struggle. 

“You can stand, Chakotay,” she said, trying to hide her amusement.  “It’s not very deep.”

His eyes met hers in wide surprise, water dripping down over his forehead from where it had been thrown about.

“Oh.”  His feet found the sandy bottom.  He wiped his brow and cleared his throat.  “I knew that.”

Kathryn laughed and placed a kiss on his wet cheek.  “You’re right.  You should stay on the dock.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ps. It is my head canon that Chakotay can't swim (I think he'd sink like a sacred rock).


	4. Oddly Free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another from @warp6‘s (m_class) prompts - “Janeway pulls Chakotay out of a burning building” (I adapted it slightly). My goal was exactly 100 words.

I didn’t expect that today I would have to choose between duty and my love for you.

But the bridge was burning; you were still on it.

And there was no one left to save you but me.

Duty said, “Go down with the ship,” instead I defected in favor of a different fate.

Your dead weight dragged by my hands felt like the weight of all of our decisions.

Jettisoned away from burdens - toward a new life – I am overcome.

Oddly free.

When your eyes open I realize my only duty now is to my love for you.


	5. I Won

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When @mia-cooper prompts, I answer. “Seriously? This story again?” Also, this picture:

 

* * *

* * *

 

“Next order of business,” Janeway said.  “Tom, these betting pools of yours. They have to stop.”

“But Captain…” the lieutenant protested.

“No.  Mr. Paris. I’ve let them ride long enough but they’re becoming a distraction,” she said, rubbing her brow.

Paris met the stares of Tuvok and Chakotay, searching for an ally but finding none. He didn’t dare turn to B’Elanna or Harry after hearing their snickers. Finally, he acquiesced with a heavy sigh.  “Yes Ma’am.  But I’d like to state for the record that my betting pools boost crew morale.”

“Shelve it, Paris,” Chakotay said, annoyance slipping into his voice.

Tom slid back in his seat and remained silent for the rest of the meeting. When the officers had been dismissed, Tom held Chakotay back with a silent gesture.  The two waited until Janeway also exited.

“The crew is going to be upset that she’s put an end to the pools,” Tom said frankly.

Chakotay patted him on the back while they made their way slowly to the door.  “Give her some time, I’m sure she’ll be okay with you continuing in a little while.”

“She seemed pretty adamant, what makes you think she’ll come around?”

Chakotay stopped walking to regard the officer.  “She’s just upset that she lost.  And, she can’t have your final payout being made public.”

Tom wrinkled his brow in confusion.  “Lost?  Lost what? And what payout?  The last winner was months ago - ”

“Which reminds me,” the commander casually interrupted.  “Since I technically won your most popular pool last night, before she ended the betting, I’d like my spoils.”

“Most popular?  You…. You and…” Tom stammered, wide-eyed.

A mischievous grin spread across Chakotay’s face.  “I hope I don’t have to prove it.”

“You. Won.”

“Oh yes.  Yes I did. And for both of our sakes, keep it quiet.”

 

 


	6. The Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was for @supernovacoffee on behalf of @emmikamikatze (khurst). [It is admittedly my favorite so far]. Prompt was this screencap:

* * *

 

* * *

 

This is the moment she realizes.  

The moment she _knows_.

In this moment, she is excited and confused.  She feels warm from the inside out.  

Overcome.  Enlightened.

She has just watched her life flash before her eyes, but it’s the part that hasn’t happened yet.  And it feels as real as a book she simply has not taken the time to read.  

The scientist in her rushes to understand.  It isn’t as if he has just spoken words that are profound or poetic. He hasn’t made some grand, sweeping gesture.  In fact, it is a conversation like any other.  Businesslike and professional, but somehow interpreted differently by her heart.

A good while later she will learn that she isn’t the only one aware of the moment – though oddly it bypasses him.    During formalities and festivities and anniversaries, the others who are witness will confess to being made vaguely aware of a popping, snapping sound and a heat that electrified the air.  As if a switch had been flicked.  A gasp drawn.  One will describe it as the whole ship having let go of a sigh.

She confesses to him later, (though she won’t admit it makes her feel vulnerable) while smothered in satin sheets and wrapped inside and around each other.  Gazes following a long-overdue sunrise, she spills out about the experience.  Caressing his broad shoulders, she muses about how it felt in that simple second to have her soul turned on end.

But of course he understands, because he too had been taken by a similar moment – long before she was – though time doesn’t matter now.  While they recline in drunken afterglow he takes his turn to recount.  He professes other things too as he strokes her hair, feels her velvet skin under his fingertips and lays gentle kisses in tender places.

Both agree they don’t really care how or when either revelation came to pass, just that it did, in two separate winks of a universe’s blessing.

And there is no denying that every moment in between was absolutely worth the wait.


	7. Drunken Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From @ailtara‘s prompt “A litttttttle too much wine/cider."

“I love you, Chakotay,” she spits at me as I steady her by the arm.  “I mean it.  I really, reeeealy do.”

I chuckle at her.  Her speech is slurred and her legs don’t seem to be carrying her weight well.  She’s tripping over her own feet.  

She stops and looks at me suddenly, pupils large and dark with heavy lids threatening to close over them. “Where are we going?  Where are you taking me?”

“Back to your quarters, Captain.  You need to go to bed.”

“Ooooh…. Chakotay!” she says, slapping me a little too hard on the chest.  “I didn’t realize you felt the same way!  Oh goody, this is going to be suuuch fun….” She licks her lips and looks at me as if I’m some kind of dessert.  

“You need to get some sleep, Kathryn.  You’ve had a little bit too much celebrating for the night.”

“Yes.  Celebrating was fun,” she replies, nodding her head so hard I fear for her neck.  Her feet begin moving again and with my assistance she doesn’t stumble.  Fortunately it’s not much farther and most of everyone else had retired hours ago.  She doesn’t need to think about the crew having seen her this way in the morning.  “We should be celebrating.  There is lots to be good celebrating about.”

“I agree.  You got us home Kathryn, you deserve to celebrate.”

“I do love you though, I said that already, right?  I’m going to make a note in the log.  No, you should do it, I’m too drunk.  Note it. That’s an order,” she says jamming a finger into my chest.  “I’m going to begin every staff meeting telling everyone just how much I love them. Starting with you.”

I nod.  We’ve finally reached her quarters and I key in a security override.  At this point I know better than to ask her for her access code.

The dim light of the room and the quiet calms her into a sleepy state.  It has been a long couple of days and I know she will fall asleep quickly.  I, on the other hand, will not.  Cramped on the couch in her living area – I’m too afraid she will wake and hurt herself to leave – I won’t sleep a wink.  

Because drunk or not, she’s just said that she loves me.  And they were the most incredible words I’ve ever heard.


	8. So Close

 

* * *

“Twenty-three years. We’ve survived twenty-three years and you’re telling me he’s not going to last fifteen more days?”

“We’ve known for some time that this day would come,” the hologram reminds me gently.

“You said he had seven or eight….”

“I said, at best we could hope for seven.  But realistically it was more like four.”

“He’s not going to get to see it….” As the words leave my lips, I realize, everything we’ve done was for naught.  

“I won’t discount a miracle,” he says in an attempt to offer distorted hope.

My head hangs.  My heart weeps.  

“I want to see him.”


	9. Of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a follow up to the previous one....

* * *

 

* * *

 

This was the book I read on the last day I held your hand – the cup of coffee I drank so that I could focus on the words instead of what I lost.  I must have skimmed the same page a thousand times, sipped from the empty mug a dozen more.  But now all I can recall is how the soft sheets reminded me of you.


	10. Happy Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of KJ's birthday, May 20th.

It is my birthday.  

‘Another year older, another year wiser’ my mother will inevitably say – that is, if her clichés are still intact. After seven years I can’t be sure.

I hear the clanging of breakfast dishes – imagine I see her pulling a large quiche from the oven. The scent of cinnamon-coffee finds its way through the cracks in the door frame and further stirs my senses. Voices come through next.  My sister has arrived.  I smile at her sound.  I have missed her so deeply.  Her birthday is five days from now and we will celebrate all week until then, of that I am certain.

For the last seven years this day was an afterthought.  If it hadn’t been for you, I would have forgotten completely.  But you knew it was important to keep that ember of happiness glowing.  Since we’ve been home it has been fanned into a conflagration.  It feels almost greedy to have all of this joy suddenly returned.  

I feel you rustle next to me, a warm hand slides over my shoulder and you’re breathing me in.

“Happy Birthday,” you say through a kiss in my hair.

And yes, it truly is.


	11. Distraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for @supernovacoffee.

* * *

* * *

 

She has been telling me about this anomaly for the better part of fifteen minutes.  I think, maybe, I’ve registered ten of her words.  I can’t focus - not on wormholes or shield modulations or whether we will get our probe back or…. well, anything.  Unless you’re counting the shape of her lips.  The fire in her eyes.  The flippant way she puts two fingers together and points at the ceiling.  I bow my head to regard the screen.  And now I can’t not focus on the sound of her voice.  

If only those things were only for me. 

“Dinner,” I say suddenly, interrupting her sentence.

She stops.  “Excuse me?”

“Have dinner with me, tonight.”

She smiles.  “Okay.  We can discuss modifications to the deflector.”

I nod and she continues her dissertation.  Modifications to the deflector.  That’s good enough.  I can finish memorizing the way her hair lies against the side of her cheek.


	12. Make Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This came from @supernovacoffee‘s “How about you make me” and “You think you’re funny?” (and cause I’ve been feeling sappy lately).

“How about you make me?” she said with a hint of devious excitement in her voice.

“Make you?”

“Yes.”

“Kathryn, I think you’ve proven a long, long time ago that I can’t _make_ you do anything.  If you don’t want to ….”

“Give it another try.  You have to admit that last attempt was pretty lame.”

Chakotay frowned at her. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?  

She nodded with a grin. “Uh huh.  If you really want me to agree you’re going to have to earn it.”

“Earn it?!  How many years have I been earning this?”  Her smile broadened and she relaxed back into the couch while he let out an exasperated groan.  “Fine, just…. Give me a minute to think.”

He began to pace back and forth across the living room of her apartment.  She had to hold back a giggle while she watched him mumbling to himself. Dramatically he would shake his head, then scratch his chin and keep on pacing.

Suddenly, he stopped. “You know what?”

“What?”

Then he spun on his heel, grabbed his coat off of the hook, said “just forget it,” and walked out the door.

Mouth agape, she leapt from the couch.   “Wait, but….”

Adrenaline shot through her and she dashed after him.  “Chakotay?” she asked, then she shouted louder down the hallway.  “Hey!  Where’d you go?  I was just teasing!”

She ducked back inside to grab her jacket, then fled down the hallway and out of the building.

In her haste she tripped right over him, waiting patiently, on the outside steps.

“Chakotay!” she gasped as he caught her and pulled her into his lap.  He wound her into a deep embrace and kissed her with all of his might.  “Yes, the answer is yes,” she murmured into his mouth.

“I knew you couldn’t resist ‘hard to get’” he laughed with a smile.  

Then he put the ring on her finger.


	13. Brave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From @emmikamikatze‘s (Khurst's) “Anyone can look brave holding a compression phaser rifle.”

“So, what do you think?”

Chakotay nodded approvingly, examining the prototype weapon in his hands.  “I think that Tuvok and B’Elanna have done a good job with their modifications. The power cells will last longer, they’ve improved accuracy and it’s not as heavy.”

“I’m not sure I like the size though, it’s a bit awkward,” Janeway replied, taking the rifle from his outstretched hand.  “Computer, replay simulation alpha three zero.”

Chakotay took a step back into the viewing bay and observed as she adeptly rose the weapon then began to traverse through the holographic ship’s corridors.  One by one she took down a stream of attackers. Sweat poured down her face and neck as she ran.  Dressed in only a grey tank top, he could see the well-formed muscles in her shoulders and arms flexing and straining, glistening with her every movement in time with the flashing of red-alert lights.  Smoke hissed in the air, klaxon’s blared and the room became noticeably warmer.  

He watched as she blasted another foe only to be overtaken at the next turn when she couldn’t swing around fast enough.

“Dammit,” she swore.

The simulation ended.

Walking back to Chakotay, working to steady her breath, she shook her head.  

“You looked pretty good running around with that,” he smirked.  

“It’s cumbersome.”

“Maybe a little.  But it looks formidable and that can be important.  You seemed fine until that last one.  Like you weren’t afraid to take on anything.”

She huffed and wiped the sweat from her brow.  “Anyone can look brave holding a compression phaser rifle.”

“You looked more than just brave,” he said as she caught him eyeing her up and down.

She returned the favor of his glare with a dirty smile.  “That turned you on, didn’t it?”

“A bit.”

She leaned the rifle up against the wall and he grabbed her by the wrist, yanking her closer.  Then he greedily plunged his lips onto her own. Staggering he pushed her up against the holowall and began to lift up her tank top, a favor which she quickly returned.  

“Maybe a bigger size isn’t such a bad thing after all,” she remarked breathily.  

“I told you, it’ll just take some practice,” he hissed into her ear.

She groaned and moved her hands lower down his body.  “You’ve told me that before.”

“And?” He nipped at her neck, she wound her leg around his torso.

“You were so….” Then she let out a groan as his incredible mouth moved lower still.

“Yes?” he murmured into her chest.

“Incredibly…”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Right.”


	14. Fifteen Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For @cheile aka. my librarian. No prompt, this is a modified snippet from a WIP that happens to be exactly 100 words.

Lazily her fingers intertwine with those of her lover.  The sheets remain bunched between them, partially covering her still-naked lower half. He stirs at her movements, a smile immediately works its way onto his face.

“We need to get up,” she says, imparting reality.

He groans, the fog of a sound night’s sleep lifting too quickly.

“Computer, time,” he asks, waiting for good news.

_‘The time is 0645 hours.’_

“We have fifteen minutes.”

“Before we have to be dressed and ready for duty.”

“I’ll be quick,” he murmurs into her neck and he is on top of her once again.


	15. Giving Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picture prompt. Just a KJ one this time....

 

* * *

 

The weight is heavy now, I feel it more than ever before.  The lives that are in my hands have finally become too much to hold.  With distraction gone, all that remains is the truth.  It isn’t anyone else’s fault.  

So what is left?  Can this situation be made right if I sacrifice myself?  Will anyone realize that this me giving up?  Does it even matter anymore?


	16. Not Letting Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from @emmikamikatze (Khurst). Listed at the end so as not to spoil.

“Give me your hand,” he says, lying prone over the edge of the rocky peak.  She groans.  Her legs are aching and her fingertips are sore from the climb which they have been enduring for the last hour.  “Come on,” he urges.  “Another half-meter and you’ll get your reward.”

“Next time…” she pants. “We try….” Then her legs surge upward with a last ounce of strength.  “A smaller….” She throws her hand at him. “Mountain.”

With a grunt he yanks her up.  They lie still on the ground for a moment.  Then, a broad grin grows over both faces as they realize that together have made it.  

He helps them both up onto their feet.  Only now can they fully enjoy the spectacular view.  They are above a dense canopy of lush trees.  Far below he can make out a river which twinkles in the light from a perfect, blue sky above.  All of these are eclipsed only by how beautiful she looks, fully exerted, heart pounding and with a smile that could conquer the entire planet.

The slight breeze is another reward as it quickly works to cool them off.  Her hand is still firmly wrapped around his but neither seem to notice this act is out of the ordinary, or care to let go.

She lifts her head with a final release of air.  “You were right,” she agrees. “The view was definitely worth the work it took to get here.”

“Told you.”

The next thing they hear forces them both back into reality.  

 _‘Tuvok to Captain Janeway,’_ her badge beeps.

She sighs.  “Janeway here.”

_‘All teams have reported back.  We are ready to depart.’_

She turns back to regard Chakotay.  “I guess our reward was short lived.”

“Next time we’ll climb faster,” he chides her with a shrug.  She allows them one last extended moment, then with a squeeze of his hand she asks Tuvok to have them transported home.

They materialize on the rear-most, upper landing of the bridge.  

“Mr. Paris,” she says, beginning to walk down to command level.  She doesn’t feel that she’s practically dragging Chakotay along behind her. “Standard departure.  Leave orbit and resume our previous course.”  

By now, all of the eyes on the bridge are watching the command team in some covert way or another.

“Commander,” she says turning to Chakotay.  “I’ll be in my ready room, you have the bridge.”

At this Tom lets out a small chuckle.  

“Problem Mr. Paris?” she asks as Chakotay diverts his eyes to the floor.

“No ma’am, but…”

“Yes?” she urges impatiently.  She is hot and sweaty and eager to freshen up.

“If you want him to have the bridge and you’re going in your ready room…” the helmsman trails off, hoping not to have to state the obvious.

“Yes?” she asks again, leaning her head toward him in even more annoyance. 

“You might have to let go of his hand.”

Her face flushes and she drops Chakotay like a hot iron.  Tom turns back to the viewscreen, hiding his smirk.

“Yes, well.  Good climb, Commander,” she says with a nod.  “Post haste on the departure, shall we?”

“Aye, Captain,” he replies. “Post haste.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt was: imagine your OTP holding hands for some reason and then forgetting to let go until someone reminds them that they're still attached to each other.


	17. Stolen Responses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the prompt to write about J/C in a tornado. For the girls: @mia-cooper, @cheile, @carlynroth, @lodessa, @katesfire82

Lying in a ditch, covered by the body of my former first officer, was not how I expected to spend my afternoon.  But the best laid plans of starship captains often go awry when we’re not in our center seats.  

Indiana can be beautiful in the late spring.  It can also be deadly.  I heard the freight train whistle from a kilometer away, but I knew too well that there were no locomotives traversing the Midwest these days.

With no time to run, no way to call for help, we hunkered down at the edge of my family’s property and that of our neighbor.  

I remember now the feeling of strong arms gripping me.  The deafening sound of debris whizzing by.  I didn’t come all the way back to die this way.  And neither did he.

“I love you,” I felt him shout into my body.

The wind stole my response.

I was helpless. Powerless.  Scared.

Even more so as I hold his hand now.  It’s been three days.  And I’m still waiting to tell him I feel the same.


	18. A Matter Of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From 2 prompts: They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered. - F. Scott Fitzgerald  
>  It was only a matter of time. (requested by @supernovacoffee)

Her first instinct is to moan under his touch.  In the same breath her hair is thrown back.  It brushes his cheek - soft and smelling of jasmine.

She folds like a house of cards.  Aces and spades flutter gently to the bed, having taken the shape of glistening limbs.

If asked that morning, feelings would have been denied as if their lives depended on it.  

But now.

They are wrapped in each other and a moment that should not have been.  Almost dying breaks down walls faster than any sledgehammer. Almost losing someone you can’t live without makes them wonder why those walls were mortared in the first place.

In the morning she will confess.  It was only a matter of time.


	19. Triple Word Score

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thx to @mia-cooper for the ever-timely prompt of “Try all you want, you’re not going to beat me.”

* * *

 

“Try all you want, you’re not going to beat me.”

“Would you please _just_ _stop talking_  so I can concentrate?”

Chakotay stretched back in his chair, interlaced his fingers behind his head and smiled a big, wide smug smile.  “Next time, I think we ought to put a limit on how long a turn can take.”

“Do I have to  _order_  you to keep your mouth shut?” she asked, eyes not breaking from the small, wooden rack in front of her.  “Besides, the rules of Scrabble don’t say anything about a time limit.  I’ll keep you through your shift tomorrow morning if that’s what it takes.”

“Take as long as you need. I’m going to use the ‘freshser,” he said, rising from his seat.  Then he eyed her suspiciously.  “I don’t have to take my tray with me, do I?”

She traced her eyes up at him bitterly.  “No, Commander.  I  _don’t_ cheat.”

“Right,” he said with a devious wink, then he left the room.

Seven letters.

 _‘The bag is empty,’_ she thought.   _‘He’s beating me by five points, that’s nothing.  I’ve absolutely got this.’_

Seven letters.

C N I T L A P

She stared at them. Then she re-arranged them a bit.

N I T C P A L

P A T C L I N

C L A N I P T

“Dammit.  Come on, Janeway,” she swore to the empty room.

She took her hands off the letters and picked up her wine glass then surveyed the board.  She raised the drink to her lips but did not take a sip.

“There’s an O, an R, and a J.  What the hell am I gonna do with a J?” she demanded, putting her glass back down.

“Nothing,” he said, coming back into the room.

“Oh really?  You wouldn’t be trying to dissuade me from those nice eight points there, would you?”

“If you can use that J to beat me, I’ll give up my holodeck rations for the week,” he countered, plopping confidently back down in his chair.

“Raising the stakes, are we?”

“Aren’t you done yet?” he asked, looking at an imaginary watch on his wrist.

She sighed, rolled her eyes and went back to her letters.

T N I C A L P

P L I T N A C

P L A….

She gasped.  And then, eyes wide, her smile overtook the room.  

“Uh oh,” he remarked. “Got something?”

Letter by letter she plopped the tiles onto the game board, making a show of each and every one.

“P, L, A, T, and I use the O right here, N, I, C,” she finished with a flourish.  “Platonic!”

He snorted, nodding his head. “Good job,” he conceded. “What’s it worth?”

She peeked under each letter.  “Three, two – cause it’s on a double – so that’s five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, then three is thirteen, AND, it’s on a double word score so that’s twenty-six, PLUS, my fifty point bonus for using all my letters.  So,  _Commander,”_ she said greedily, “put me down for seventy-six points.”  Her hands flew into the air and then smacked the table top, rattling their glasses.  “And I am out.”

Chakotay marked the points on the padd then smiled back at her.  “Well played,” he admitted.  “Hm… I guess I might be in trouble now.”

“I guess you might be,” she agreed, smugly.  Then she threw back the last of her wine.

“Let’s see….” Chakotay rearranged his letters slightly, cocking his head from side to side while she basked in her eminent victory.

“It’s not much, but I guess this will have to do,” he sighed.  “I’m going to use your L, I hope that’s okay with you.”

“By all means.  You get that one point,” she snickered.

Then, she watched in horror as one by one he laid down his letters.

“B, U, L, L, S, H, I, T,” he finished.  “And, you’ll note it ends on a triple word score.  He licked his finger then reached for the padd.  “Let’s see now, what does that come to?”

She let out a heavy, defeated sigh.  “Don’t bother.  You win.”

“Again,” he added.

“Don’t remind me.”

He leaned forward and folded the board while she opened the drawstring bag.  “Do you find it ironic we ended on the words we did?” 

She laughed as he poured the letters back into their velvet pouch. “Not one bit.  Now, are you going to take me to bed so I can win at something?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, I worked this crap out on the board. It took longer than writing the fic. You can do it…. Kinda, sorta…

**Author's Note:**

> Each of these drabbles were originally posted on Tumblr under jhelenoftrek. I am always looking for more, so please find me there to request (or leave comments with a prompt).


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